INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Commission for Africa

Hilary Benn: The Prime Minister is today launching a new initiative—the Commission for Africa—to take a fresh look at the challenges Africa faces. The Commission aims to generate increased support for the G8 Africa Action Plan and the New Partnership for African Development (NePAD).
	The Commission will conclude its work and report next spring. The Commission will set out the facts on Africa and its assessment of policy on Africa (both within Africa and internationally): where it has worked; where it has failed; where more could be done; and where more support is needed from the international community
	The commissioners will be politicians and opinion formers, drawn from developed countries and Africa. Gordon Brown, Hilary Benn, Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia, K.Y. Amoako (Head of the UN Economic Commission for Africa), Trevor Manuel (South African Minister of Finance), Michel Calmness's (President Chirac's Africa Personal Representative) and Sir Bob Geldof are already confirmed as commissioners. The Prime Minister will chair meetings of the Commission and will agree the final report. The International Development Secretary will oversee the ongoing work of the Commission on the Prime Minister's behalf.
	The commissioners, supported by a secretariat, will consult a wide range of experts and thinkers on each issue. The process will be open with public seminars and meetings to discuss the themes and issues. We hope that many organisations will contribute to this work. Each commissioner will host meetings, hold debates and call for papers on the theme he/she is leading. The full Commission will meet once or twice before the report is finalised to discuss and agree its overall direction.
	Over the next 12 months the commissioners will take forward discussions on the key challenges to Africa's development. The themes of the report—and commissioners' responsibilities—will be decided at the first meeting of the Commission in April, but are likely to include some or all of the following: the economy (including development finance, economic integration and trade); education; conflict resolution and peacebuilding; health; the environment; HIV/AIDS; governance; and culture.
	The Commissioners' work will help inform the UK's agenda for Africa during its G8 and EU presidencies next year.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Framework for Sustainable Development(Government Estate)

Elliot Morley: The Government is publishing the fifth part of the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate (Framework)" on energy today. This will be available from the sustainable development in Government website. Copies of the website, on CD-Rom, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	The energy section of the framework breaks new ground: it sets a Government-wide commitment to reduce carbon on the Government estate that will make an important contribution to the UK's Kyoto target, and will help to deliver our Energy White Paper commitments. The framework will now require all estate mgement contracts to take account of measures and opportunities for reducing carbon emissions and collecting energy data.
	Our ongoing work on the framework defines a set of cross-Government targets for sustainable development, and outlines the mechanisms by which Departments will be expected to achieve them. These challenging targets give a clear indication of the Government's continued determination to take a lead in the practical implementation and achievement of sustainable development.
	The framework for sustainable development on the Government estate can be viewed at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/improving/index.htm.

CABINET OFFICE

Civil Defence Grant

Douglas Alexander: The aggregate of civil defence grants to be made for the financial year 2004–05 is £19,038,000. Some £100,000 will be retained as discretionary grant for special projects and special events deemed of benefit to the wider civil protection community in England and Wales. The remaining £18,938,000 will be allocated to individual authorities as set out below.
	
		
			 Local Authority Grant Allocation 2004–05 (£) 
		
		
			 Anglesey/Ynys Mon 61,342  
			 Barking & Dagenham 75,969  
			 Barnet 80,694  
			 Barnsley 76,076  
			 Bath & North East Somerset 90,011  
			 Bedfordshire 136,511  
			 Bexley 78,758  
			 Birmingham 187,380  
			 Blackburn with Darwen 70,658  
			 Blackpool 66,662  
			 Blaenau Gwent 63,083  
			 Bolton 82,674  
			 Bournemouth 70,122  
			 Bracknell Forest 63,899  
			 Bradford 125,756  
			 Brent 86,592  
			 Bridgend 68,323  
			 Brighton & Hove 81,172  
			 Bristol 98,486  
			
			 Bromley 84,980  
			 Buckinghamshire 200,557  
			 Bury 71,195  
			 Caerphilly 73,088  
			 Calderdale 74,574  
			 Cambridgeshire 163,057  
			 Camden 84,175  
			 Cardiff 87,322  
			 Carmarthenshire 73,858  
			 Ceredigion 64,143  
			 Cheshire 189,969  
			 Conwy 64,811  
			 Cornwall 189,279  
			 Corporation of London 60,145  
			 Coventry 77,776  
			 Croydon 90,666  
			 Cumbria 216,116  
			 Darlington 63,899  
			 Denbighshire 71,434  
			 Derby 76,503  
			 Derbyshire 220,459  
			 Devon 217,294  
			 Doncaster 85,516  
			 Dorset 175,886  
			 Dudley 82,908  
			 Durham 213,601  
			 Ealing 90,344  
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 72,166  
			 East Sussex 208,288  
			 Enfield 88,198  
			 Essex 315,112  
			 Flintshire 77,741  
			 Gateshead 79,140  
			 Gloucestershire 189,960  
			 Greater Manchester FCDA 64,060  
			 Greenwich 86,482  
			 Gwynedd 67,698  
			 Hackney 88,145  
			 Halton 68,137  
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 76,719  
			 Hampshire 298,996  
			 Haringey 85,624  
			 Harrow 65,726  
			 Hartlepool 64,650  
			 Havering 77,685  
			 Herefordshire 70,229  
			 Hertfordshire 310,886  
			 Hillingdon 81,386  
			 Hounslow 80,742  
			 Hull (Kingston upon Hull) 72,265  
			 Isle of Wight 72,230  
			 Isles of Scilly 53,708  
			 Islington 83,424  
			 Kensington and Chelsea 74,788  
			 Kent 339,586  
			 Kingston upon Thames 67,654  
			 Kirklees 95,431  
			 Knowsley 74,359  
			 Lambeth 87,789  
			 Lancashire 315,233  
			 Leeds 172,987  
			 Leicester 88,896  
			 Leicestershire 192,957  
			 Lewisham 83,978  
			 Lincolnshire 212,793  
			 Liverpool 97,648  
			 London FEPA 151,825  
			 Luton 59,894  
			 Manchester 147,667  
			 Medway 81,547  
			 Merseyside FCDA 73,332  
			 Merthyr Tydfil 60,998  
			 Merton 72,053  
			 Middlesbrough 71,355  
			
			 Milton Keynes 81,404  
			 Monmouthshire 62,154  
			 Neath Port Talbot 70,259  
			 Newcastle Upon Tyne 102,823  
			 Newham 88,226  
			 Newport 68,616  
			 Norfolk 276,813  
			 North East Lincolnshire 71,624  
			 North Lincolnshire 69,532  
			 North Somerset 71,248  
			 North Tyneside 74,091  
			 North Yorkshire 244,523  
			 Northamptonshire 239,260  
			 Northumberland 188,122  
			 Nottingham 86,321  
			 Nottinghamshire 210,927  
			 Oldham 79,294  
			 Oxfordshire 202,459  
			 Pembrokeshire 66,735  
			 Peterborough 72,214  
			 Plymouth 81,708  
			 Poole 66,635  
			 Portsmouth 74,467  
			 Powys 85,886  
			 Reading 67,386  
			 Redbridge 82,566  
			 Redcar and Cleveland 69,693  
			 Rhondda Cynon Taff 82,319  
			 Richmond upon Thames 69,424  
			 Rochdale 77,310  
			 Rotherham 81,654  
			 Rutland 56,443  
			 Salford 72,386  
			 Sandwell 88,413  
			 Sefton 84,015  
			 Sheffield 96,386  
			 Shropshire 153,834  
			 Slough 68,566  
			 Solihull 73,716  
			 Somerset 164,359  
			 South Gloucestershire 76,183  
			 South Tyneside 71,516  
			 South Yorkshire FCDA 84,356  
			 Southampton 77,470  
			 Southend 71,966  
			 Southwark 77,343  
			 St Helens 73,333  
			 Staffordshire 226,842  
			 Stockport 79,992  
			 Stockton-on-Tees 73,877  
			 Stoke-on-Trent 74,413  
			 Suffolk 221,786  
			 Sunderland 101,107  
			 Surrey 297,388  
			 Sutton 73,126  
			 Swansea 78,933  
			 Swindon 71,355  
			 Tameside 77,310  
			 Telford and Wrekin 72,385  
			 Thurrock 68,666  
			 Torbay 67,440  
			 Torfaen 64,876  
			 Tower Hamlets 93,509  
			 Trafford 75,754  
			 Tyne & Wear FCDA 34,892  
			 Vale of Glamorgan 72,385  
			 Wakefield 86,667  
			 Walsall 83,639  
			 Waltham Forest 83,532  
			 Wandsworth 79,155  
			 Warrington 72,804  
			 Warwickshire 181,722  
			 West Berkshire 67,815  
			 West Midlands FCDA 60,386  
			
			 West Sussex 225,386  
			 West Yorkshire FCDA 61,593  
			 Westminster 86,804  
			 Wigan 84,497  
			 Wiltshire 194,786  
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 66,796  
			 Wirral 89,861  
			 Wokingham 66,525  
			 Wolverhampton 82,030  
			 Worcestershire 186,835  
			 Wrexham 72,926  
			 York 72,220  
		
	
	To determine the individual allocations the following formula was adopted:
	Each authority received £53,000. Each county council received £12,000 in respect of each shire district within the authority's boundaries. These flat-rate payments accounted for approximately 65 per cent. of the aggregate grant, in recognition of the fact that every authority, regardless of size and population, would incur similar unavoidable costs in conducting the basic civil protection function.
	The remaining 35 per cent. of the aggregate grant was distributed according to the Bellwin threshold, using population size as a proxy for the scale of civil protection that authorities need to undertake.
	This formula is retained by agreement with the Local Government Association.

PRIME MINISTER

COE/WEU (Information Bulletin)

Tony Blair: I have placed in the Library today the latest Information Bulletin on the activities of the United Kingdom Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of Western European Union covering the period November to October 2003.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Independent Monitoring Commission(Abduction Incident)

Paul Murphy: On Friday 20 February the Police Service of Northern Ireland made a number of arrests in connection with an alleged assault and abduction. The case is sub judice.
	Four people now face serious charges, including grievous bodily harm, possession of articles likely to be of use to terrorists and unlawful imprisonment. The PSNI are following a number of very definite evidential lines, including video material and the items, clothing and other forensic material recovered at the scene. The Chief Constable of the PSNI has made it clear to me that he is satisfied that there was Provisional IRA involvement in the incident.
	These events are a matter of serious concern. As far as the overall situation is concerned, my assessment of the various paramilitary organisations' ceasefires, in the light of information I have received, remains unchanged. But all the indications are that there has been a serious breach of the requirement set out by the British and Irish Governments in paragraph 13 of the joint declaration for an end to all forms of paramilitary activity.
	Such behaviour is wholly unacceptable. As the Government has repeatedly made clear, parties cannot be half-in, half-out of the democratic process. All paramilitary activity must stop.
	These developments have inevitably had a serious impact on this week's discussions with the Northern Ireland political parties within the review of the operation of the Belfast agreement. At those meetings, we listened carefully to the views of the parties and, in particular, to their concerns about the implications of these events for the establishment of the trust and confidence required to achieve a successful outcome to the review and to restore devolved Government in Northern Ireland.
	Both Governments are now asking the Independent Monitoring Commission, which was established in January, to examine Friday's incident in the context of the preparation of its first report on paramilitary activity. We have also asked the Commission to bring that report forward from July to May. The report is expected to take account of all paramilitary incidents and activities within its remit since the Commission's establishment. The Commission is obliged by law not to do anything in carrying out its functions that might have a prejudicial effect on any legal proceedings.
	Both the British and Irish Governments are very clear that the achievement of a sustainable basis for political progress in Northern Ireland requires a full and permanent cessation of all paramilitary activity. As part of the wider agenda of the review, it is vital that we intensify engagement with the parties on this core issue, and we envisage that next week there will be a significant focus on it.

Prison Service

Jane Kennedy: On 8 September 2003, the Secretary of State formally accepted the recommendations of the Steele Review of Safety at Maghaberry Prison. The review recommended that prisoners with paramilitary affiliations should be accommodated separately from each other, and from the rest of the prison population, on a voluntary basis.
	One aspect of implementation has been the development of a prisoner compact, which makes clear the routine and facilities available to separated prisoners and what will be required of them in return. These proposals were issued for public consultation in December.
	The Government have considered the representations made and, have made some adjustments to the compact where these do not reduce the ability of prison staff to maintain good order. The revised compact is published today and I have placed copies in the Libraries of both Houses. This is the compact that will set the parameters of the regime in the separated facilities.
	As I have made clear on numerous occasions, no-one wants a return to the conditions that pertained at Maze where staff were threatened, intimidated and subjected to brutal attacks and where prisoners could threaten and intimidate other prisoners with impunity.
	Many have voiced their concerns that separation could ultimately lead us back to a Maze style regime. I am determined that that should not happen. I firmly believe that the additional security measures which have been incorporated at Maghaberry, taken together with this Compact, will ensure that it does not.
	Another of the Steele Review's recommendations was that we should consider the appointment of a prison ombudsman. We will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation shortly.
	The publication of the compact now clears the way for full implementation of Steele's recommendations. Most of the physical work required in Maghaberry has now been completed and staff training is well underway. The Prison Service aims to achieve full implementation by the middle of March.

Police and Criminal Evidence Review

Jane Kennedy: A review of the Police & Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and the accompanying codes of practice is being undertaken by officials in the Northern Ireland Office.
	The review, which aims to bring the existing PACE legislation and the codes of practice in Northern Ireland into line with that in England and Wales, will adopt much of the new or amended legislation and revisions to the codes of practice introduced by the Home Office as a result of their fundamental review of PACE in 2002.
	It is my intention to issue a draft Police & Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order and associated codes of practice for consultation in autumn 2004 with the aim of them becoming operational by summer 2005.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

2012 Olympic Games

John Prescott: London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is focused on the Olympic Park in the Lower Lea Valley. The London Development Agency submitted an outline planning application for the Park and four ancillary applications to the Joint Planning Authorities Team (representing Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest London Boroughs) on 30 January 2004. Decisions on these, and any subsequent applications, are matters for the local authorities concerned. However, it is possible that decisions in relation to these applications could fall to be determined by me as First Secretary of State (either on appeal or if applications were to be called in). I and other Ministers in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister have other policy responsibilities, including the delivery of development and regeneration in the Thames Gateway and the role that the London Olympics bid might play in achieving these objectives. In order to ensure that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's "Guidance on Propriety Issues in the Handling of Planning Casework" is followed, I have decided that any planning decisions arising for the First Secretary of State in respect of development related to the Olympics bid will be dealt with by my hon. Friend the Member for Pontefract and Castleford (Yvette Cooper). She will not be involved in any other matters relating to the Olympics bid.